Think you don’t drink and drive? Think again…

This is something that has been coming up a lot lately and so I feel it is time to address it with a blog… Many functioning alcoholics I speak to (and by functioning I mean those who are still going to work, picking the kids up from school, seeing friends etc) will proudly tell me how they never drink and drive. Whilst I applaud their desire not to do something so dangerous, it is often left to me to point out that they may still in fact be drink driving.

The reason being, that many people are not aware of how many units they consume or how long it takes for the body to break down a unit. So to give a rough guide – A pint of lager will be between 2-6 units depending on the strength, a bottle of wine will be around 10 units, and a litre bottle of spirits will be around 40 units. Men will typically break down units at a rate of one per hour, whereas for women it is closer to an hour and a half. So to put this in perspective, if a female drinks a bottle of wine in an evening, and finishes drinking at 11pm, she is still likely to be over the limit when she does the school run in the morning. There is also the fact that the time given for breaking a unit down is only a rough guide and so depending on metabolism, it can take some people longer.

So next time you have a drink in the evening, it is worth considering what time you will need to drive in the morning, and the fact you may still be over the limit. If you think you may be affected by any of these issues, get in contact and we will be happy to talk it through with you. Alcohol abuse is not something that can be easily managed and measured, but it can be countered by using the aforementioned guidelines against alcohol addiction.

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